


Shot Through The Heart (And You’re To Blame)

by velvetjinx



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Assassin Bucky Barnes, Blood, Character Death, I blame CAPRBB slack chat, M/M, Minor Violence, No MCD, Non-Serum Steve Rogers/Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes | Shrinkyclinks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 17:27:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13575423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velvetjinx/pseuds/velvetjinx
Summary: While looking for technically illegal software, Steve accidentally finds himself on the dark web, watching a video of a guy getting killed. He turns for help to tumblr, and an anon guides him to the one man who just might be able to save him.





	Shot Through The Heart (And You’re To Blame)

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly the fault of the-steve-bucky-ship, rohkeutta, obsessivereader, and fox. It was their idea that I got convinced to write. XD A million thanks to everyone who cheerleaded, but especially ediblecrayon for the readthrough and reassurance. Additionally, thanks be to cryo-bucky for the title <3
> 
> Also this is my first shrinkyclinks! Please be kind. :)

So okay maybe trying to download Photoshop for free was technically illegal, but Steve was an impoverished artist, okay, and he didn’t have hundreds of dollars to spend on one piece of software. He’d been clicking around for hours, following hundreds of links that looked like they might be Photoshop but weren’t (most of them were porn). He followed some more links through various forums, and found himself on a site that looked promising. He clicked one of the links…

...and up came a video. It looked like a livestream, and some guy was tied up on a chair, whimpering. Before Steve could close out the tab, a guy with dark hair and a mean look walked up behind the guy and shot him at point blank range. Blood spurted over the camera lens. Steve gasped and closed the window quickly.

Shit. What the fuck did he just see?

A few minutes later, as he tried to reason with himself that it was probably just a movie, right, his phone pinged with an email. 

_We know who you are. We know where you are. We know what you saw. We will be coming for you._

Steve looked at the email and rolled his eyes. Fucking scammers. They were probably planning on trying to get money out of him.

***

The next day, Steve was out getting groceries when he noticed a guy walking just far enough behind him not to be too suspicious. Problem was, Steve had noticed him before. There wasn’t anything that stuck out about him, but for Steve to have seen him twice now _was_ a little suspicious. 

He began to walk a little faster, and as he rounded a corner he saw a black van draw up down the street. A man got out and started walking towards Steve purposefully.

Steve turned around and doubled back, bumping into the guy he’d noticed, who grabbed his arm. 

“Going somewhere, Rogers?” the guy murmured, and Steve began to panic. He did the only thing he could think of—he kicked the guy hard in the shins. The guy let go, cursing, and Steve began to run back to the crowded streets. He looked behind him, but there was no one there, so he ducked into a department store and hid in the bathroom for thirty minutes. 

When he finally got home, he checked his messages. 

_You got lucky today. Next time you won’t be so lucky._

“Shit!” Steve cried. “Oh my god, oh god, what the fuck just happened?” So it hadn’t been a movie. So the messages weren’t a scam. He’d somehow stumbled onto an actual livestream of a guy getting shot.

Steve felt sick.

He sat back in his chair. The cops probably wouldn’t take him seriously, and they’d have deleted the link. Besides, they’d probably ask what he was doing on that site anyway and he couldn’t exactly tell them.

There was only one thing he could think of. 

He opened tumblr in a new tab, and made a post.

_Guys, I fucked up. I can’t tell you what happened here, but now I have people after me. I need help. Does anyone have any idea how I can fix this? Anyone have any contacts on the dark internet? I’m desperate here. Please. Help me._

Steve hit post and sat back. He got a few replies within a few moments—all along the lines of ‘omg are you okay?’—but nothing helpful. He sighed. He’d known it was a long shot. But now there was every possibility that he was going to be killed. 

He felt tears well up in his eyes. He was only thirty two, he wasn’t ready to die! There was so much he wanted to do with his life. It was so unfair. The tears spilled over, and he wiped at his eyes. There was no point crying about it. He was going to die. He might as well face it as well as he could.

Just as he was resigning himself to his fate, a message popped into his inbox. He clicked on it curiously.

_anon said_

_follow this link. You’ll find someone who can help you. Good luck._

There was a chopped up link, and Steve copied it into his browser, deleting the spaces and replacing words with punctuation. When he hit enter, he was taken to a page that simply said:

_Click here to be contacted_.

Steve clicked the link and waited.

Two minutes later, his phone rang with an unknown number. 

“Hello?”

_“What service do you require?”_

The man’s voice was husky, and Steve swallowed. “I need protection. I accidentally saw something I shouldn’t have, and now there are people after me.”

_“Do you know when they’ll be coming?”_

“They didn’t say. They’ve already tried, but I got away so I guess probably soon.”

_“This is your address, yes?”_ The guy reeled off Steve’s address, and he swallowed hard.

“Yeah, that’s it.”

_“I’ll be there in 20 minutes. Don’t answer the door to anyone. I’ll call you when I’m outside.”_

“Thank you,” Steve said, but the guy had already ended the call. 

He closed all the curtains and holed up in the bathroom, away from big windows, until his phone rang again. 

_“I’m outside,”_ the guy announced, and Steve went to the door, looking through the spy hole before letting him in. The guy shut the door behind him and looked Steve up and down, making Steve feel incredibly self-conscious about his short, skinny frame. Especially next to this guy, who was built like a fucking tank. He was heavily muscled without looking like a bodybuilder, and when Steve looked at the guy’s face he swallowed hard. This guy was seriously hot. Shoulder length brown hair fell over his face, and his eyes were a piercing blue. His lips were full, and he sported a small amount of stubble.

“You’re Steve Rogers?” the guy asked, and Steve nodded. “Okay. I’m going to need you to tell me exactly what you saw.”

Steve described the scene. The guy nodded as Steve went along, occasionally asking questions about small details. When he was done, Steve showed the guy the emails he’d received, and told him about the incident the day before.

“Can you help?” Steve asked desperately.

The man nodded. “Yeah, I can. But you have to do everything I say, when I say it, if I’m gonna keep you safe.”

“Okay, sure.” Steve paused. “Uh, what do I call you?”

“I don’t have a name,” the man said shortly. “Just call me Soldier.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“First thing we need to do is I’m gonna check the apartment to see where the best place to hole up is. Where were you waiting for me?”

“In the bathroom,” Steve told him. “I figured it would be the hardest place for them to get me since there’s only a small window.”

Soldier eyed Steve appraisingly. “That was good thinking. We don’t want to have to just confine you to one room, though. Wait here.” Steve waited as Soldier went through the entire apartment. When he came back, he nodded. “Bedroom is the safest place. The window is right across from another apartment block so there’s less chance of a long distance sniper taking you out.”

Steve followed Soldier through to the bedroom, and sat on the bed. “So what now?”

Soldier shrugged. “Now we wait. Given who I think it is, they’re not gonna waste much time. They’ll try and get to you before you can get help. Luckily you contacted me quickly.” Soldier looked at him curiously. “Speaking of, where did you find out about me? You don’t look like the type who would know where to find a trained assassin.”

“Is that what you…?” Steve swallowed. “I asked the internet. Got a private message with the link to your website from some anon.”

“Huh.” Soldier took off his jacket, and Steve’s eyes widened. Underneath was a lot of firepower, and Steve was almost certain there was more hidden somewhere.

Soldier stalked around the small room like a caged tiger as Steve sat on the bed, leg bouncing nervously.

“When do you think—” Steve began,and Soldier looked at him sharply. 

“Quiet. I’m listening.”

“To what?”

“For the people who are trying to kill you,” Soldier replied impatiently. “Now shut up.”

Steve pouted, but did what he was told. The silent minutes stretched out endlessly, until Steve wanted to scream. 

Just when he was about to crack, there was a knock at the door. Soldier put his finger to his lips, and crept through the apartment.

“Who is it?” Soldier called out.

“FedEx delivery,” came the reply. Steve watched from his bedroom door as Soldier quietly unbolted the locks and stepped back.

“Door’s open!” Soldier said loudly, aiming his gun at the door.

When the door opened, Soldier fired twice, and Steve saw a man slump inside, what looked like a sawn off shotgun in hand. Soldier dragged his body into the apartment and glanced outside the door, before closing it and locking it again.

“Is he…?” Steve asked, although the guy clearly was dead.

“Yeah. Stay in there.”

Steve watched as Soldier checked the guy’s pockets, and found a cellphone. He tapped a few buttons, then pressed dead guy’s thumb against the phone, before tapping the screen a few times.

From across the room, Steve heard a man’s voice at the other end of the line.

_“Is it done already?”_

“I have a message for you,” Soldier growled.

_“Who the hell is this?”_

“Your man is dead. Leave Steve Rogers alone. He’s not planning on telling anyone but me about this, and I intend to keep him alive.”

_“Yeah? And who the fuck are you?”_

“The Winter Soldier,” Soldier said. “Final warning. Leave Steve Rogers alone.” He ended the call and looked up at Steve. “I know his voice. These are some bad guys who are after you. I’m tempted to send this guy back in pieces.”

Steve swallowed hard. “Wouldn’t that mean you’d have to leave me here?”

Soldier looked at him, eyes narrowed. “Yeah, which is why I’m not going to. You got a bathtub?”

“Yes?”

“Okay, I’m gonna put this guy in there, then I’m gonna clean up. Thank god you’ve got varnished wooden flooring in here.”

Steve blanched as Soldier carried the dead guy bridal style through to the bathroom, before coming back through. 

“Do you need anything?” Steve asked through a dry mouth.

“Got bleach?”

“Yeah.”

“Cloths? Gloves?”

“In the kitchen, under the sink.”

Steve went back through to sit on his bed while Soldier cleaned up. When he was done, Soldier went back through to join Steve, pocketing the dead guy’s cell as he came through the door.

“You said… on the phone, you said you were the Winter Soldier?” Steve said hesitantly.

Soldier tensed. “It’s how I was known. Before.”

“Before what?”

“You ask a lot of questions.” Soldier said, narrowing his eyes.

“I’m sorry. If you don’t want to talk about it—”

“I don’t.”

Steve nodded, biting his lip. “You want anything to eat? Or drink?”

“Uh, yeah?” Soldier looked surprised. “Water would be good.”

“Okay. Am I good to go into the kitchen to get it and make myself a snack while I’m there?”

“How long do you think it’ll take?”

“Ten minutes?”

Soldier thought for a moment, then nodded. “Acceptable. You have exactly ten minutes. Go.”

Steve quickly made himself a sandwich and took it and two glasses of water through to the bedroom. He handed one of the glasses to Soldier, who sipped it slowly, before looking at his watch. 

“How did I do?” Steve joked, his face falling immediately at Soldier’s serious expression.

“Seven minutes. You did fine.” Soldier sighed. “I’m not trying to make your life difficult here, Steve. I’m trying to keep you alive.”

Steve held up his hands. “I know, and believe me, I’m grateful. You have no idea how grateful I am.”

Soldier nodded. “Okay. I’m gonna go do a sweep of the other rooms. I’ll be back.”

Steve watched as Soldier went first to the spare room, then to the bathroom, before looking out one of the windows in the living room. As he turned away, there was a loud shattering sound as the window exploded inwards, and Soldier dropped down immediately. 

“Get back in there!” Soldier yelled, before Steve could say anything, and Steve went and hid under the bed. He wasn’t proud of himself, but he was pretty terrified.

A few moments later, Soldier crawled into the bedroom, cursing.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked, tone bordering on hysterical.

“I’ll be fine, just. Shit. Do you have a screwdriver?”

Steve peeked out from under the bed. “A screwdriver?”

“Yeah, they got my arm.”

“Should you be digging a bullet out of your arm with a screwdriver?” Steve asked, appalled.

Soldier rolled his eyes. “My arm isn’t flesh, idiot. Where is your screwdriver?”

“Uh, I’ll get it.” Steve rolled out from under the bed and went into the top drawer in his chest, rooting around until he found the screwdriver. “Here you are,” he said, holding it out to Soldier. Soldier stood and took the screwdriver, and sat on the bed, taking off his holster before shrugging off his hoodie. Underneath was a bulletproof vest, and a one sleeved top under that. On the sleeveless side… “You have a metal arm?” Steve asked, eyes wide.

“Yes,” Soldier replied shortly. “Problem?”

“No, of course not. Just… never seen one before. How did you..?”

Soldier glared at him. “Put that on the list of things I’m not talking about.”

Steve watched as Soldier dug around in his arm for the bullet, before pulling it out. He flexed his fingers and moved the arm slightly. 

“Is it okay? Your arm, I mean.”

Soldier looked at him curiously. “Yeah, it should be fine. I can still do the job.”

“That wasn’t what I meant. I meant, are you okay?”

“Um. Yeah. Thanks.” Soldier looked confused that Steve cared about his wellbeing, and Steve had to wonder who had made Soldier feel like that. He was pretty sure that would be on the list of things that Soldier didn’t want to talk about, though, so he held his peace. At length, Soldier sighed. “There doesn’t seem to be any damage to the main circuits. The damage is mostly cosmetic.”

“Good. That’s good.”

Soldier put his hoodie and holster back on, and took up his glass of water again, taking a small sip. “So how did you end up on that website anyway?”

Steve blushed. “I, uh, I was looking for a free copy of Photoshop,” he confessed.

Soldier looked at him like he was a complete idiot, which Steve supposed he was. “You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was.”

Soldier stared at him for a long moment, then began to laugh. He had a nice laugh. “That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard. You found HYDRA’s dark web while looking for pirated art software? They must be slipping.” He took another sip of water. “That’s fucking hilarious, Steve, you have no idea how funny.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Steve retorted, pouting slightly, and Soldier looked at him, something a little softer in his gaze.

“I’m not laughing at you, or your predicament, Steve. I’m laughing at those incompetent fucks at HYDRA. And okay, a little bit at the situation that brought you here but, come on, it is a little funny.”

“Maybe I’ll be able to laugh about it one day.”

Soldier nodded. “Yeah, I get that.” He smiled, and it changed his whole face. He looked almost boyish. “I like you, Steve. You seem like a good guy, and I’m sorry that this happened to you.”

“Thanks,” Steve said softly. “I appreciate that.”

***

Soldier had boarded up the window with some boards that Steve had been hoarding in his box room, and taken the dead guy outside, while Steve made more sandwiches for them both. Now they sat together on the bed, eating pastrami on rye. 

“How long do you think they’ll keep coming after me?” Steve asked after his last mouthful.

Soldier shrugged. “You can never tell with HYDRA. They know who I am, and I’d hoped that would put them off coming after you, but I guess not.”

Suddenly, the dead guy’s cell rang. Soldier looked at Steve, then answered.

“Hello? Yeah, this is the Winter Soldier. Sorry, pal, but I’m not leaving here until you stop coming after Steve or all of you are dead. Either way. ...yeah, he’s here, but you’re not getting to talk to him. I’ve already told you he’s not a threat. Who would he tell? He doesn’t want to go to the cops. The only reason he came to me was because you threatened him. ...He doesn’t work for anyone. He found you by accident. ...Believe it or not, it’s true. He was looking for something else when he found your little livestream. ...I’m gonna be here until you stop sending guys. ...You think we can’t hole up here forever? ...Fuck you, this is one I intend to win, and if you do know anything about me you know I will. ...Well, that’s your call. See you in hell, asshole.” Soldier ended the call and sighed. “Fuck. They don’t intend to stop until you’re dead. This is a problem.”

“Um, yeah?” Steve said, suddenly panicked. “What are we going to do?”

Soldier looked at him seriously. “‘We’ are going to do nothing. I’m gonna go hunt this guy down. You stay in this room unless you need to go to the bathroom until I get back.”

“What if they break down my door while you’re gone?” Steve asked, suddenly afraid.

Soldier frowned. “Good point. Well, I guess you just have to come with me.”

“Come with you? What, take me right to them?”

“The best defense is a good offence.” He took out one of his guns and held it out. “You ever fire one of these?”

Steve shook his head. “Never.”

“Safety, trigger. Try not to shoot me.”

Steve took the gun and held it gingerly. “Are you sure about this?”

Soldier grinned lopsidedly. “Not even a little bit, but we have no other choice.”

Steve grabbed his keys and jacket, and followed Soldier down the stairs and out back. Soldier took keys out his pocket and walked towards a red sports car.

“That’s your car?” Steve asked, eyes wide.

“Uh, yeah.” Soldier looked slightly sheepish. “I like how it handles.”

“That’s really cool. Not exactly stealth, though.”

“Sometimes ostentatious is stealth, if it’s unexpected,” Soldier told him as they climbed in. “Now buckle up. We’re gonna go bag us some bad guys.”

As they drove, Steve looked at Soldier curiously. “How do you know where they’ll be?”

Soldier stared straight ahead as he answered. “I know most of their locations. I used to be one of their ‘assets’.”

Steve’s eyes widened. “You worked for these guys?”

“Not exactly.” Soldier sighed. “It was more complicated than that.”

“Did you want to work for them?” Steve asked quietly.

“I didn’t know any different.” Soldier laughed hoarsely. “They told me I was doing good work, helping to shape the century. What a crock of shit. Eventually I woke up, and realized what they were doing. I escaped, and I’ve been hiding from them since then.”

“Shit, and now you’re going right to them?” Steve started to panic. “After you’ve been running from them?”

“Steve, it’s fine,” Soldier said gently. “I’ve taken out every team that’s ever come for me. Now I’m just taking the fight to them. If I can take out this unit, maybe they’ll stop trying to find me and leave me the hell alone.”

Steve could tell that Soldier didn’t actually believe that, but was grateful anyway.

Eventually, they arrived at a warehouse near the docks. They parked around the corner and got out. Soldier went to the trunk and took out what looked like a sniper rifle.

“Can you climb?” Soldier asked, and Steve shrugged.

“I can try.”

“Good enough.”

Soldier helped him climb up onto the building next to the warehouse and followed him up. Steve could see a group of people through one of the windows. Soldier picked up the rifle, took aim, and fired. One of the guys went down, and the others ran for cover. 

Steve could hear voices, and Soldier shifted his aim to the men coming out of the warehouse, searching the surrounding area. He took out two of them before they figured out where the shots were coming from, and began aiming up on the roof.

They ducked out of sight of the men, and Steve looked at Soldier questioningly. “What’s the plan?”

Soldier grinned at him. “Don’t get killed.”

He took aim and began shooting at the men on the ground. One by one they fell, until there were none left. More came out, but Soldier took them out too. Soldier was so busy concentrating on the guys outside, he didn’t see the man inside the warehouse, who was creeping up to the window. Steve looked down at the gun in his hand, then determinedly took off the safety and aimed. When he pulled the trigger, the kickback knocked him backwards, but when he looked down he saw that he’d hit the man in the arm. 

Soldier took cover again, and looked appraisingly at Steve. “Good shot.”

“I was aiming for his chest,” Steve confessed.

“You still hit him and saved me, so you did good in my book.” Soldier looked down, and nodded. “I think we’re clear to go inside.” He climbed down off the roof, helping Steve down behind him, and took out another handgun. “Stay behind me,” Soldier told Steve, who nodded.

Soldier burst into the warehouse, firing, dragging Steve behind a large crate. 

From the back of the room came a voice. “Well, well, if it isn’t Sergeant Barnes.” Soldier tensed, and Steve’s ears pricked up. “We always knew you’d come back to us sooner or later.”

“Fuck you,” Soldier spat out. “I’m here because you wouldn’t leave Steve Rogers alone.”

“Yes, and it looks like you brought him straight to us, doesn’t it? How kind of you.”

“Go fuck yourself, Pierce,” Soldier said, and stood, firing his gun. Steve peeked out from behind the crate to see an older man fall to his knees, blood gushing from a gunshot wound to the chest. 

Suddenly, it was mayhem. Men from behind other crates began to fire at them, and Steve and Soldier looked at each other before firing back. Steve never quite managed to kill any of them, though he wounded quite a few. The ones he wounded, Soldier finished off. 

At length, there was only one of them left. When Steve saw his face, he gasped. 

“That’s the guy from the livestream, the one who killed that other guy,” he whispered.

Soldier nodded. “Yeah, I’m not surprised.” He stood, aiming his gun at the man. “Hey, Brock.”

Brock smirked. “Hey, Bucky,” he said, sneering. “Isn’t that what your friends called you? _Bucky_? Sergeant Bucky Barnes. Fucking stupid name if you ask me.”

“What do you want, Brock?” Soldier asked, eyes narrowed. 

“I want rid of you and your little friend there. You’re both liabilities.”

“So you’re not going to stop.”

Brock shook his head. “Of course not. And it’s not like you’re going to kill me. You can’t, can you?” he said, laughing.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Soldier replied, shrugging, and fired his gun, hitting Brock in the stomach. Brock doubled over, cursing, as Soldier stalked towards him. Brock looked up at Soldier, hate in his gaze, and Soldier fired again, shooting him in the head. 

Soldier returned to Steve, putting his gun back in his holster. He held out his hand, and Steve handed him the other gun.

“Is that it?” Steve asked quietly. “Is it finished?”

“I hope so,” Soldier said, shrugging. “But then it depends on who knew about this. They’re more likely to come after me than you, though.”

They walked in silence to the car, and drove back to Steve’s apartment. As they pulled up to park, Steve turned to Soldier.

“Back there… Brock called you Bucky. Why did he call you that?”

“It was my name once,” Soldier replied shortly. “But I’m not him anymore. I don’t think I’d know how to be.”

Steve frowned. “What’s the difference between you?”

“He was a good man, a hero. I’m an assassin.”

“You’re my hero,” Steve responded softly. “You saved me. And I know it’s probably gonna clean out my bank account, but you still saved me. I don’t know what I’d have done without you.”

Soldier shrugged uncomfortably. “I do things for money. I’m a gun for hire. That doesn’t make me a good person.”

“Maybe not, but you could have left me when it got too hard, when you found out who was after me. You didn’t. You protected me, even when it meant facing up to your past. Maybe you two aren’t so different after all.”

Soldier looked at him, so much pain in his gaze that Steve almost looked away. “I can’t… I’m not…”

“Just… something for you to think about.” Steve paused. “Do you wanna come up? Make sure they didn’t plant any bombs while we were out?”

Soldier thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, okay.” He did a full sweep of the apartment, but found nothing. “I guess I’d better go.”

“Or you could stay for coffee?” Steve suggested. “We could order pizza, maybe watch a movie?”

Soldier looked at him searchingly. “You are one strange guy, Steve Rogers,” he said at length, laughing. “Maybe I will stay for a while.”

“You could sleep in the spare room if it gets too late,” Steve added, heart pounding.

“Thanks.”

“And… I think Bucky is a good name. I think it suits you.”

“Huh.” Soldier thought for a moment, then smiled, almost shyly. “I guess you can call me Bucky, then.”

“I like it more than ‘Soldier’, anyway.”

Soldier—Bucky—laughed. “Yeah, I guess it’s more like a real name or something.” He paused, looking at Steve with something soft in his gaze. “Thanks, Steve.”

“Don’t mention it. So how about that pizza?”

***

They actually had a fun evening, watching _Towering Inferno_ and eating pizza. Bucky, once you got past the soldierly exterior, actually had a biting sense of humor, and Steve found himself sincerely enjoying his company. 

It didn’t hurt that the longer Steve was around Bucky, the more he realized just how attractive he found him. He wanted to run his fingers through Bucky’s long hair, kiss those full lips, get beard burn on his thighs from the stubble…

It was entirely possible that Steve had it bad for his protector. 

As Bucky turned to him, laughing about something, Steve quickly changed his look from adoring to something more neutral, but apparently not fast enough. Bucky looked at him, chagrined.

“Steve, I don’t… I don’t get involved,” he said quietly.

“With clients?”

“With anyone. My line of work, it’s too dangerous to care about anyone. I can’t afford attachments.” He paused, looking Steve sincerely in the eyes. “But I gotta say, I’ve never been more tempted to break that rule than I am with you.”

Steve swallowed hard. “So let’s not get attached,” he murmured, looking at Bucky’s lips.

“Too late,” Bucky replied wryly, before leaning in and capturing Steve’s lips with his own. 

Steve moaned into the kiss as it deepened, but Bucky suddenly pulled back, eyes wide.

“Bucky?” Steve asked tentatively, but Bucky shook his head. 

“I’m sorry, Steve. I’ve got to go.”

He grabbed his jacket and dashed out the door, and the noise of it closing behind him sounded like the end.

***

Steve fell back into his routine over the next few days. There were no more men in black vans, no more guys following him. But he stayed vigilant, just in case. 

He missed Bucky, but he had no way to contact him. He’d tried going back to the website, but it had disappeared. Steve couldn’t even imagine what that meant. He only hoped that, wherever he was and whatever he was doing, Bucky was okay. No money had ever been taken out of his account. Steve didn’t want to assume he knew why.

Time passed. Summer turned to fall turned to winter, and there was still nothing. Steve found more jobs, took more commissions, made more money. At the beginning of December, he got offered a job working from home for a large comics company, a job which he had applied for but never even hoped he would get. Things seemed to be looking up.

As he climbed the stairs to his apartment the week before Christmas, he was digging his keys out of his pocket when he heard someone walking around on his floor. Thinking it was just his neighbor, Maria, he opened his mouth to greet her, but shut it again when he saw the figure slouching in front of his door.

“B-Bucky?” he asked in a whisper.

Bucky gave him a small smile. “Hey, Steve.”

Steve strode up to Bucky, dropping the bag of wrapping paper in his arms, and pulled him into a tight hug.”Where the hell have you been? I’ve been worried about you.”

Bucky’s arms wrapped tentatively around Steve, holding him close. “I’ve been tying up some loose ends,” he said softly.

Steve clung to him for a moment more, then pulled back. “You wanna come inside?”

“Yeah,” Bucky said, smiling. “Yeah, I do.”


End file.
